Okay I just came back online after watching movies with my future hubby, only to find a huge discussion happening on twitter regarding an article written by The Wall Street Journal titled DARKNESS TOO VISIBLE.
You wouldn't believe the debate this started between the fiancee and I. Holy smokes. In the end we came to the same conclusion, but took a long time getting there and it had us both speaking louder than normal.
In the end we decided that yes there will be some books that are too mature for some teens, but who's to say that most teens are not already surrounded by most of the terrible things that WSJ commented on. Times have changed and kids grow up faster than parents want to admit.
"It almost makes me happy to hear books still have that kind of power," Mr. Alexie was quoted saying; "There's nothing in my book that even compares to what kids can find on the Internet." (direct from the WSJ article regarding author Sherman Alexie's prize-winning novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." being part of ALA's Top 10 Challenged Books in 2010)
That quote right there made our debate get heated. Future hubby stated that movies, video games and CDS have ratings for this reason - and TV and Internet have parental controls to help monitor or control what your children do. To which I retaliated with "If a parent has the time to monitor what their child is watching on TV or doing the net or what they are listening to, then the parent should take the time to know what their child is reading."
Many tweeters posted comments stating that #YAsaves - it helped so many cope with the things they were dealing with and let them know they were not alone. If the masses are saying that YA books have helped them, then why are people freaking out about the content of YA books? There are worse things happening in the world around us.
If a parent is upset with what their child may be reading, then it is their responsibility to know what the content is and deem what is acceptable literature for their child. Maybe they should read the books first before letting their kid have a go at it.
There are some amazing books out there that do not contain any profanity, violence, or questionable activities. There are also some great blogs out there that support clean reads such as Squeaky Clean Reads. Parents just might need to do some research. I even know of a few younger bloggers out there who read what they deem appropriate for their age.
I could keep ranting on and on, but honestly I'm getting tired of reading all the tweets and rehashing the same comments over and over again. What do you think about the article - let me know in the comments?
Go check out Twitter and follow #YAsaves hashtag to see how YA really affects teens and adults alike... it's all such a positive experience.
Go check out Twitter and follow #YAsaves hashtag to see how YA really affects teens and adults alike... it's all such a positive experience.
I just read the article myself, and thought it seemed pretty obvious that the author doesn't actually read YA. Just looking at the sidebar of "Books We Can Recommend..." made me laugh out loud. There were only 3 acceptable books written between 2008-2010?? This woman is clearly not familiar with the scope of what is available in YA literature.
ReplyDeleteI was left wondering if she were actually a parent who had recently (unsuccessfully) tried to get a book banned from her child's school or library. She seemed more like someone with a vendetta against YA than someone who was actually informed...
Katie - I was thinking the same thing about the list on the side of the article. There are so many great YA books out there! Why were these ones picked specifically?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all the #YAsaves tweets, I almost updated my rant on here with comments about how much YA can speak to teens and adults alike, but figure that everyone is saying it so much better than I feel I can and people should just go look at twitter for #YAsaves to see how YA really affects our teens. :)